Largo woman praised for quick actions during mobile home fire; how you can get free smoke alarms

Fire alarms can last 10 years

Neighbors in a Largo mobile home park are praising the quick actions one woman took when she saw smoke coming from a nearby mobile home.

Neighbors in a Largo mobile home park are praising the quick actions one woman took when she saw smoke coming from a nearby mobile home.

Creative Commons 2.0, PHOTOGRAPHER Richard Peat

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LARGO, Fla. -

Neighbors in a Largo mobile home park are praising the quick actions one woman took when she saw smoke coming from a nearby mobile home.

Although, Carol Fariel says she did what anyone would do.

"I'm getting lots of replies over it," said Fariel. "We were in the right place at the right time to prevent this from being a major catastrophe."

Early Saturday morning, she and a friend saw smoke billowing out the roof of a mobile home in her neighborhood. While her friend dialed 911, Fariel began pounding on doors to get neighbors out in case the fire spread. The man inside the home died. Fariel says she gets upset thinking about it.

"I'm sure that if we hadn't caught it when we did that other homes would have been damaged more than they were, possibly more lives could've been lost," she said.

It's one reason Summer Mahr with Largo Fire Rescue makes house calls to install free fire alarms. They'll last 10 years and you won't have to change batteries.

Mahr says on average you have just three minutes to escape a normal home when it's on fire - in a mobile home, your time to get out is even less which is why coming up with an exit plan is so important.

"It's human nature if you were to have a fire to try and get out of the same door that you come in and out of every day but that doorway might be blocked," said Mahr.

Which is why you should practice opening your windows, taking the screens off, and physically getting out to make sure it's possible. Mahr says also check wires and electrical outlets in your home to make sure they look normal and never leave your kitchen when cooking.

If you're interested in getting free smoke alarms installed in your home just click on your area below and follow the directions.